Start of Summer

Bathroom faucet was dripping and Gunther [estate staff] had already changed the cartridges at least twice. It was replaced with a Delta Lorain 2 handle widespread faucet. Gunther related to me that the removal of the old faucet was at first a bit problematic, but became easier after some thought and installation was straightforward, but instructions in German would have been a help.

Current Blooms:
New Flowers

Coral Bell, Heuchera 'electra' The veins get redder towards the fall and the flowers are white. his should add some diversity to the front garden which already has 5 different Coral Bells, mostly shades of green.

 Chinook Hops, vast amount of information about this variety here. Was at the Farm store[Belle Mead Co-op] buying cedar mulch and felt compelled to check out what they had veggie-wise. We already are full up in our veggie garden, but had a look anyway and what did I find. Hops are used in brewing beer and can be used to brew tea to aide digestion and hops in your pillowcase is supposed to aid insomnia. Hops have anti-bacterial properties.

 Seapink, Armeria juniperifolia 'Bevan's Variety'

 Phlox paniculada 'Bartwentynine'

 Dianthus Lilac Eye

The plant looked fine till I replanted it. I'll add a photo when it is looking better.

Beers in the Fridge:
 Some guest beers this week. Met some friends down on the south shore and biked on the grounds of the Conference House Park. Afterwards we had Hungarian food "and some beers" and some Hungarian Palinka (fruit brandy), wow it was strong. A parting gift included the first four beers below and a sample bottle of Pear Palinka.

San Miguel, 5% ABV very good, from the Philippines. I just assumed it was Spanish.
Tyskie Gronie, Pale Lager 5.4% ABV Brewed in Poland. This one was good too.

Didn't yet try these.
City Steam a Hartford CT brew pub. Naughty Nurse Amber 5% ABV, They say "Brewed for a spicy, slightly bittersweet finish in the traditional English manner. Delicate malt caramel-like sweetness paired with traditional English hops. Our flagship ale! " Looking forward to this.

Cisco BrewersNantucket MA Whale's Tale Pale Ale 5.6% ABV English Style Pale Ale

These are my contribution, picked them up this week and brought a few along to the outing.

Flying Fish Farm House Summer Ale 4.6% ABV 15.1 IBU(quite precise) The brewery located in Somerdale, NJ has free tours on Saturdays and Sundays.
Magic Hat Circus Boy, The Heffeweizen 4.5% ABV 15 IBU. I like their #9 Not Quite Pale Ale, so I expect I should like this one as well.

British Car Show

Stopped by a British Car show in Clinton, NJ this morning, last minute decision, weather seemed better than expected and had already gotten some things done. We had visited a few times back when a friend of ours lived in the town. The location was at The Red Mill museum. The small town has quite a few places to eat and a few shops. There were people doing yoga? next to the river, fishermen at the riverside, families strolling and a crowd over at the Car Show.

 Blacksmith shop

 Spring House, side, front interior.

 A log cabin. When I stepped in there was a person to the left, briefly after processing the possibilities I was startled. I first discounted it was a mannequin, next I decided it was not a life-sized cutout( we have a few standing around the place), then realized it was a person in an unexpected place.

There was a shed with farm implements too, but they were in poor shape so I skipped wasting precious film there.

Cars:
Jaguar

 F Type, probably our next Jag. It is large compared to the other 2 seater sports cars on display.

 This Jag was a georgous blue, photo does no justice

 E Types

Engines

 Jaguar

 Chevy in a re-chassied TVR. Evidently, the tubular chassis on these is as bad as everything else.

 Lotus, always glad when valve covers are branded.

A British one.

Don't remember the make/model just loved the copper plumbing.

 Triumph GT6

 

Triumph TR6

Triumph TR7/8, forgot to look at the engine. TR7 has a 6 and TR8 had an 8 cylinder.

A couple of MG T series. Midgets

 This one is older.

 This one is newer with a raked radiator grill and headlights built into the wings.

MG MBG GT

Morgen 3 wheels and exterior 2 cylinder engine. He wore a helmet driving in.

Here is the car that belongs to the Lotus engine above. Is is real tiny. The guy went from a Corvette to this, both were fiberglass bodies which he said he likes.

Nice Spring Day

Listened to the Rev. Dr. William Barber II on the way back from the airport this morning on the NewYorker Radio Hour. He was the president of the North Carolina chapter of the NAACP and is now involved with the Poor Peoples Campaign. He pointed out that Jesus was born a jew, in the middle east and most likely had dark skin (would have had a heck of a time getting a US visa I would guess these days) and was very much for Universal Health care, cause he was always healing people for free. The Reverend also had a lot more things to say about the conservative evangelicals who seem to equate having money with being good and having little or no money to being bad. He works with people of all religions, race and orientation. He is for a living wage, health care and for getting all people out of poverty. The episode was well worth listening to.

Garden chores today(done to a Miles Davis soundtrack)

• planted White Phlox
• planted dianthus next to the St Michaelmaas Daisy
• repotted Dwarf Astilbe and Geranium cinereum 'alice' outof pots that were disintergrating daily.
• Pulled up some perivinkle from around the Lilac and of course had to put some in pots. Heaven forbid I just toss perfectly good plants.
•  Moved some peppermint or spearmint (not sure which) out of the shade.
• Trimed the espaliered Witch Hazel and added another old bamboo rod to keep the plant in line.
• general weeding and pruning

Current Blooms:

 Roses

 Geranium cinereum 'alice' mit Toscano Picadilly statuette

 Sedum

 The Peony Garden, I know what a let down, after I mislead you with expectations of acres of Peonys and hundreds of specimens and this is what it comes down to, Next you'll ask if I really am a Cog.

 Iris, purple

The Edelweiss purchased in April already in bloom.

Beers in the Fridge:
Liberty IPA 6.3% ABV. It's dry-hopped you know. A nearly lost art so the copy-writers say. For me a tad too bitter, just OK.

OK it's not beer, it's a Corn 'N' Oil cocktail. OK it's not a Corn 'N' Oil because I added selzter and it's just Bacardi Gold not a fancy blackstrap rum. The bottle recipe only lists the ingredients as 1/2 oz of the Liqueur and 2 oz of either Doorly's XO Barbados Rum or R.L. Seale's rum, then garnished with a lime slice. Other recipes include a dash of bitters and lime juice. The Putney Farm blog describes Velvet Falernum this way "as for velvet falernum, it is a sweet, spicy, lightly-alcoholic liqueur with lime notes" I concur.